Local men launch global digital marketplace

Published: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 7:59 p.m.

Hendersonville resident Jordan DeLozier was 7 years old when his father bought him a 286 Packard Bell computer. He was hooked.

By the time he was 13, DeLozier had developed a search engine that he then sold to a California-based company for $200,000. Unfortunately, before the ink was barely dry on the contract, the West Coast company went belly up. But that didn't deter him.

By age 18, he was an IT intern at BorgWarner in Arden. Later promoted to the world headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., DeLozier became the company's coordinator of electronic data interchange. Day in and day out, he created software programs used to exchange data.

As if being knee-deep in tech all day wasn't enough, as a hobby DeLozier created several websites of his own, including SEOClerks.com under the company name IonicWare Inc., based in Hendersonville. The website is a marketplace for buying and selling freelance search engine optimization services that help websites get higher rankings on sites such as Google.

The idea was to let “freelancers sell their SEO skills online, bid on SEO projects that others have listed or even trade their SEO skills for something else, like design of graphic logos or brand-building for their own SEO businesses,” DeLozier explained.

At the time of its launch three years ago, SEOClerks was the only SEO dedicated marketplace at the time, giving DeLozier a wide-open market in which to brand his company and grow. And grow it did.

Today, more than $1.5 million has been paid to more than 110,000 freelancers listing their services for sale on the site, and DeLozier took a cut of 10 to 20 percent in most cases.

With concrete proof that his idea had great potential, DeLozier, 31, quit his job in January to serve as IonicWare's full-time CEO. But he didn't want to just grow SEOClerks' user base and revenue. He also wanted to build a larger digital marketplace where anybody could sell or buy anything — from all kinds of professional services to handmade crafts to home and garden items — worldwide. That site, ListingDock.com, launched in September, with the help of DeLozier's good friend and brother-in-law, Eric Elliott, a partner in the venture.

Elliott, 31, works for the Henderson County Sheriff's Office as a training offer and has developed strong people skills.

“Jordon has an extensive background in programming and the Internet, but through my job at the sheriff's office, I understand how to relate to people and provide great customer service,” Elliott explained. “With my skill set, we want to be able to add more of a personal touch to our users.”

“With Eric on board, we'll be able to turn a profit within a year,” DeLozier said with conviction. “SEO clerks took two years.”

“We are co-founders of ListingDock and share the responsibilities of maintaining and promoting the website,” Elliott said. “We generally meet twice a week for several hours to brainstorm new ideas as well as conduct strategic planning for advertising and ways to improve the users' experience of the website.”

Elliot serves as ListingDock's chief marketing officer, building the brand through advertising, social media and online networking. Some of the territory is relatively new to him, but with DeLozier as his partner and technical advisor, things have gone smoothly since the September launch.

“It was kind of a crash course, for me,” Elliott said. “I jumped in with both feet. It's learn-as-you-go. We can track where people come from who visit the site and an enormous part of that has been from social media, so it's a little bit of trial and error and a lot of effort.”

“It cost $34 for the domain name and a secure certificate for the site and a lot of my time,” DeLozier said. “I wrote the SEOClerks code in such a way that ListingDock sits on top of it, so when you're visiting ListingDock you're actually on SEOclerks, but you just don't know it.”

One of the other “beauties” of the site is its global reach, Elliott said. “It doesn't depend on the economy of any one (geographic) area. It's global so you can reach more people.”

“When the economy goes go down in a country,” DeLozier added, “more people in that country go online and offer their services to people in other countries that are more stable. So our platform grows either way, in a down economy or up.”

Going forward, the pair would like to focus on getting more craft sellers on the site.

“We're essentially offering a person a storefront online if they don't have a physical storefront or the ability or time to create their own website,” Elliott said. “Over the next year I think we will see the site grow exponentially due to the work that Jordan and I have both put into it. Over the next five years we'll continue to grow and expand — doubling or tripling what SEOClerks did because it's not niche-based.”

“I believe ListingDock will do more than $1.5 million in half the time SEOClerks did, and I see us competing with sites like Etsy, Ebay and Fiver,” DeLozier said.

<p>Hendersonville resident Jordan DeLozier was 7 years old when his father bought him a 286 Packard Bell computer. He was hooked. </p><p>By the time he was 13, DeLozier had developed a search engine that he then sold to a California-based company for $200,000. Unfortunately, before the ink was barely dry on the contract, the West Coast company went belly up. But that didn't deter him. </p><p>By age 18, he was an IT intern at BorgWarner in Arden. Later promoted to the world headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., DeLozier became the company's coordinator of electronic data interchange. Day in and day out, he created software programs used to exchange data. </p><p>As if being knee-deep in tech all day wasn't enough, as a hobby DeLozier created several websites of his own, including SEOClerks.com under the company name IonicWare Inc., based in Hendersonville. The website is a marketplace for buying and selling freelance search engine optimization services that help websites get higher rankings on sites such as Google. </p><p>The idea was to let “freelancers sell their SEO skills online, bid on SEO projects that others have listed or even trade their SEO skills for something else, like design of graphic logos or brand-building for their own SEO businesses,” DeLozier explained. </p><p>At the time of its launch three years ago, SEOClerks was the only SEO dedicated marketplace at the time, giving DeLozier a wide-open market in which to brand his company and grow. And grow it did. </p><p>Today, more than $1.5 million has been paid to more than 110,000 freelancers listing their services for sale on the site, and DeLozier took a cut of 10 to 20 percent in most cases. </p><p>With concrete proof that his idea had great potential, DeLozier, 31, quit his job in January to serve as IonicWare's full-time CEO. But he didn't want to just grow SEOClerks' user base and revenue. He also wanted to build a larger digital marketplace where anybody could sell or buy anything — from all kinds of professional services to handmade crafts to home and garden items — worldwide. That site, ListingDock.com, launched in September, with the help of DeLozier's good friend and brother-in-law, Eric Elliott, a partner in the venture.</p><p>Elliott, 31, works for the Henderson County Sheriff's Office as a training offer and has developed strong people skills. </p><p>“Jordon has an extensive background in programming and the Internet, but through my job at the sheriff's office, I understand how to relate to people and provide great customer service,” Elliott explained. “With my skill set, we want to be able to add more of a personal touch to our users.”</p><p>“With Eric on board, we'll be able to turn a profit within a year,” DeLozier said with conviction. “SEO clerks took two years.” </p><p>“We are co-founders of ListingDock and share the responsibilities of maintaining and promoting the website,” Elliott said. “We generally meet twice a week for several hours to brainstorm new ideas as well as conduct strategic planning for advertising and ways to improve the users' experience of the website.” </p><p>Elliot serves as ListingDock's chief marketing officer, building the brand through advertising, social media and online networking. Some of the territory is relatively new to him, but with DeLozier as his partner and technical advisor, things have gone smoothly since the September launch. </p><p>“It was kind of a crash course, for me,” Elliott said. “I jumped in with both feet. It's learn-as-you-go. We can track where people come from who visit the site and an enormous part of that has been from social media, so it's a little bit of trial and error and a lot of effort.”</p><p>“It cost $34 for the domain name and a secure certificate for the site and a lot of my time,” DeLozier said. “I wrote the SEOClerks code in such a way that ListingDock sits on top of it, so when you're visiting ListingDock you're actually on SEOclerks, but you just don't know it.” </p><p>One of the other “beauties” of the site is its global reach, Elliott said. “It doesn't depend on the economy of any one (geographic) area. It's global so you can reach more people.”</p><p>“When the economy goes go down in a country,” DeLozier added, “more people in that country go online and offer their services to people in other countries that are more stable. So our platform grows either way, in a down economy or up.”</p><p>Going forward, the pair would like to focus on getting more craft sellers on the site. </p><p>“We're essentially offering a person a storefront online if they don't have a physical storefront or the ability or time to create their own website,” Elliott said. “Over the next year I think we will see the site grow exponentially due to the work that Jordan and I have both put into it. Over the next five years we'll continue to grow and expand — doubling or tripling what SEOClerks did because it's not niche-based.”</p><p>“I believe ListingDock will do more than $1.5 million in half the time SEOClerks did, and I see us competing with sites like Etsy, Ebay and Fiver,” DeLozier said. </p><p>Reach Tanker at 828-694-7871 or nancy.tanker@blueridgenow.com.</p>